NAPERVILLE – How do you score a game-winning goal without even trying?

Let’s ask Maddie Mills.

The Naperville Central junior collided with a defender and hit the ball more than 35 yards from the net. To the surprise of everyone, the ball sailed over the head of Wheaton North goalie Ava Lynch with 2:37 left in the second overtime Thursday night.

That gave the host Redhawks a 2-1 DuPage Valley Conference victory at Memorial Stadium.

“It wasn’t even a shot,” Mills said. “I was just trying to win the 50-50 ball and get it back in the box so we could try to get another opportunity. It kind of just lucked out a little bit.”

Thus ended a truly bizarre match between two offensively-challenged, injury-plagued teams whose records aren’t nearly as good as their talent level.

For 75 minutes, neither team had the energy or ability to break through. Then came a pair of brilliant goals 25 seconds apart that forced the game into overtime.

First, Naperville Central senior Jessica Sonner teed up a 25-yard free kick from just outside the top of the circle and blasted it into the lower right corner of the net, giving the Redhawks (8-9-1, 2-4) the 1-0 lead with 4:44 left in regulation.

“That was great,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “If we could get that more often, I’ll take that shot every time.

“She hit it well. (I) just wished that it would have been the game-winner.”

It wasn’t because the Falcons took the ensuing kickoff and got the equalizer lickety-split.

Kristen Szumski got loose on the right end and crossed to Kailee Sowers, who sent a header crashing past Redhawks goalie Sophie Epelbaum.

The twin strikes were a surprising burst of brilliance in a game played between two exhausted sides. The Redhawks entered on a three-game winless streak, while the Falcons (4-11-1, 2-3) had won once in their last five outings and were coming off a 1-0 loss to Neuqua Valley on Tuesday.

“Both teams were really tired today after Tuesday,” Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. “I think we both are spent and have a great deal of injuries that we’re trying to deal with, but as soon as (the Redhawks) were able to put that ball in, our kids didn’t give up, which I think a lot of girls would have done.

“(We were able) to come back and score right away and have a chance in overtime to win the game.”

Indeed, the level of play seemed to go up after Sowers scored. The Redhawks, who outshot the Falcons 22-3, took all five shots in the two overtime periods and nearly won it in the first overtime.

Sophomore forward Maddie Feldott barely missed two shots, the first a 20-yard drive that went just over the crossbar and the second a 14-yarder which she pulled wide of the left post.

“(Giving up the lead) was definitely heartbreaking but you just have to stay positive,” said Sonner, who has a 4.5 GPA and just committed to play at MIT. “The team just came together and although we sort of let down (on that goal), we really held our momentum through the two overtimes.”

The Redhawks, who again played without injured star Sarah Avery, had the better of the possession but struggled to get anything past Wheaton North’s tenacious backline and Lynch, who finished with eight saves.

Lynch’s best stop came at the 16:30 mark of the first half when she came out to break up a breakaway chance by Alyssa Lanzon, who had latched on to a great through-ball from Hannah Bradley-Leon.

Sonner beat the diving Lynch with a 23-yard left-footed shot with 6:20 to go in the first half, but the ball skidded inches wide of the left post.

Then in the second half, Lynch stopped a liner off the foot of Caroline Reedy and made a diving save on a long shot by Maddie Redeker.

Reedy nearly broke the ice with 5:55 left but her 15-yard drive on the run skimmed the top of the crossbar. A minute later, though, Sonner began the delicious denouement.

“We did a lot of good things tonight, but we just didn’t get the ball on frame enough,” Watson said. “It was a very bizarre in the way we take a lead.

“It was crazy, but that’s been us all year. If there’s something weird that is going to happen, it’s going to happen to us.

“But the girls played very well. The Falcons were very good as well.”

In the end, a little luck swung the balance in favor of the Redhawks thanks to Mills’ initiative.

“Obviously, that is not how you draw up the shot, but it goes in,” Watson said. “That’s what she does.

“Maddie does the dirty work, and you’ve got to like it when you have kids like that.

"She’s one of our kids who just works and gives us energy.”

The goal was the third of the season for Mills, who may never score another one in that fashion again. She said it was her most memorable goal yet.

“That one probably felt the best out of any of them just because we were in overtime, and we hadn’t won in a while so we really didn’t want to end in another tie,” Mills said. “So it felt good to get one.”

The feeling wasn’t as good for McEvilly, who was in disbelief after the game ended.

“Maybe the ball had a little bit of spin on it,” McEvilly said. “It is the second game in a row where it’s really a wind-aided goal that kind of throws off my goalie after she played well.

“And to give up a weaker goal, that’s what is most frustrating.”

It has been a frustrating season for both the Redhawks and Falcons. Injuries and offensive woes have thwarted their chances of a winning season, but the hammer has fallen harder on the Falcons, who were eliminated from contention for the DVC title.

“We haven’t had one practice or game yet where everybody has been healthy,” McEvilly said. “We know we can play with anybody.

“We have to organize ourselves offensively to create more consistent dangerous opportunities but we know that we can play with anybody. Our backline and midfield are as good as anybody’s.”

Wheaton North certainly showed that this week, taking second-place Neuqua Valley to the wire in a 1-0 loss before the tussle with the Redhawks. The Falcons have given up nine goals in their last nine games yet have only three wins to show for it.

“Neuqua Valley was very frustrated with the work of our kids Tuesday night,” McEvilly said. “(Naperville Central) didn’t get any clean looks tonight.

“There was pressure on the ball, and that’s what we’re looking for, to make things difficult. It’s really frustrating.”